“Rocks are records of events that took place at the time they formed. They are books. They have a different vocabulary, a different alphabet, but you learn how to read them.”
“With their four-dimensional minds, and in their inter-disciplinary ultra verbal way, geologists can wiggle out of almost anything.”
Nevada, the Silver State, is a unique place geologically. It was formed in a time of plate tectonic collision, then stretched by tectonic extension. It became a state during a silver mining rush, but now is the home of a world-class gold rush. Thanks to plate tectonics, the rain shadow effect has made Nevada a desert, yet it has major floods. Most of its rivers flow to interior basins, rather than to the sea. It is the third most earthquake-prone state in the United States. Much of it is covered with volcanic rocks, such as those at the site of the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Eastern Nevada's towering mountains contain fossils that formed in an ancient ocean. Many of the valleys of Western Nevada were filled by a much, much younger Ice Age Lake. Geology has shaped Nevada and formed the conditions that led to it's development as a state.
Refer to these other research guides for additional assistance:
Geologic Map of Nevada
Basin and Range by 
The Great Basin by 
Minerals of Nevada by 